The Komani floods have left a devastation on the community, displacing some residents and destroying infrastructure. Zwartwater is one of the areas affected; the village is at a standstill since their roads have collapsed, making commuting difficult. Clinics and police stations are inaccessible to the public, while schools have temporarily closed. Since their cries for assistance went unanswered, this prompted the residents to take matters into their own hands. Residents are constructing a road from rocks to connect to the other side of the village, as well as fixing damaged roads in other areas of the village.
When I’solezwe lesiXhosa visited this village, locals from neighbouring villages were hard at work laying out rocks and stones to build this road. Since the same roads that collapsed also served as commuting routes for cars, they have been unable to travel.
Mzukisi Sigqolana, the local headman, spoke about their efforts. “We are building this road so that people can travel. Children are unable to attend school, and people are unable to access clinics.
“After requesting assistance for such a long time, we made the decision to handle things on our own. We asked each home to donate R50 so that we could hire a truck to gather these rocks and feed the people who work here,” Sigqolana explained.
He continued, “What we would want to have is machinery to level the ground. We have asked Public Works to provide us with equipment, but they have not responded. As a result, we have opted to carry out the task ourselves because, in the end, it is we the people who suffer.”
While the women carried and dumped the stones with shovels, the men went on trips with the hired truck to collect rocks. One of the women working there, Noma-Afrika Fatyela, stated her children attend school in Komani. After the road collapsed, they had to walk through soaked terrain, and she has accompanied them every day to help them cross. She says they all wear gumboots and that she waits for her children to accompany them home in the afternoon.
“It’s difficult because clinics are across the road, people can’t get to them, and it’s child immunisation season. Children cannot receive immunisations, and even our police stations are inaccessible, making it impossible for people to report crimes. Even ambulances are unable to enter. Everything is failing and nothing is happening,” Fatyela remarked.
Since they were affected by the floods at the beginning of the month, Nozihle Ndamane-Qamata, the principal of Qumbu Primary School, has been unable to report to work. According to Ndamane-Qamata, some of the students at the school travel from nearby villages via the demolished road. The school has been temporarily suspended because almost half of the students and staff are unable to attend.
“We live in different villages, not the village where the school is, therefore it’s difficult for us to get to school because of these floods. We drive to school. The road has collapsed, so we can’t get to work,” Ndamane-Qamata said.
Ndamane-Qamata praised the community’s efforts to repair the roads, although she noted that the roads are not vehicle-friendly, making it simpler for people travelling on foot.
“I wish for a road that is in good condition so that we can return to work, so that the children can go to school, and so that anyone can access the school. We’ve wasted a lot of academic time since we can’t attend school,” Ndamane-Qamata stated.
The provincial Departments of Education and Public Works were asked for comment on this matter, but they were unable to respond in time before this article was published.
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